May 4, 2012

This is a scurrilous article! Where's the evidence? It's just creepy, New York aversion to the fly-over people.

While Mr. Obama will always be known to the history books as the country’s first black president, his mixed-race heritage has only rarely surfaced in visible and explicit ways amid the tumult of a deep recession, two wars and shifting political currents.

Exactly. It's remarkable, the absence of racism. But the NYT is just so eager to rake some up anyway.

The Obama campaign aggressively monitors any racial remarks made against the president, but officials rarely openly discuss Mr. Obama’s race....

Don't you think this material, searched for so diligently, would be passed on to the NYT if something could be made of it?

Researchers have long struggled to quantify racial bias in electoral politics, in part because of the reliance on surveys, a forum in which respondents rarely admit to prejudice. In 50 interviews in this county over three days last week, 5 people raised race directly as a reason they would not vote for Mr. Obama. In those conversations, voters were not asked specifically about race, but about their views on the candidates generally. Those who raised the issue did so of their own accord.

I'd like to see the text of these interviews. They give us some quotes that are not fairly characterized as someone saying she wouldn't vote for Obama because of his race, but statements of belief that other people voted out of enthusiasm for having a black President

“I’ll just come right out and say it: he was elected because of his race,” said Sara Reese, a bank employee who said she voted for Ralph Nader in 2008, even though she usually votes Democrat....

“He was like, ‘Here I am, I’m black and I’m proud,’ ” said Lesia Felsoci, a bank employee drinking a beer in an Applebee’s. “To me, he didn’t have a platform. Black people voted him in, that’s why he won. It was black ignorance.”

Drinking a beer in an Applebee’s... oh, the horror!

But the main quarrels Democratic voters here have with Mr. Obama have nothing to do with race....

Exactly. How disappointing for the enlightened elite in New York City!

110 comments:

I called it in 2008, Althouse. I said that when voters sour on Obama, because Hope and Change and cradle-to-grave statism have no chance against the cold and hard reality of the world, leftists will cry racism.

Besides, it's true. Not all Obama opponents--but definitely a portion.

And a portion of Obama supporters are brainless racist twats who think it's noble of them to accuse their political opponents of throwing around one of the most vile of racial epithets. You're one of that portion.

having just spent a wonderful week canoeing and fishing the buffalo river in Arkansas (out of cell phone and internet coverage) surprise: I come home and find that little has changed--who knew.My fearless prediction: should Mr Obama lose the general, the charges of "racism" will only become more salient.

Of more important news--caught 40 trout on the white river and my girl friend landed a 3 pound brown-if you get a chance to float the buffalo and fish the white, do so--magnificent scenery, great fishing, and when you have a guide named "coon" life is good.

Before this election is over we will Obama supporters claiming it's racist not to vote for him. Furthermore they will be sincere. Most of them can't conceive of any reason not to vote for a socialist person-of-color except blatant racism.

And an addendum: visited the Crytal Bridges museum of American Art--funded by the Walmarts to the tune of 1.2 Billion dollars--a magnificent structure and a collection of American art that is unsurpassed--and the admission is free. Puts most of the American art museums to shame.

What are you talking about? What are you referring to, specifically? What are we "amnesiac" about? Obviously you have something in mind, that's supposed to be obvious to us too, but I don't know what it is. Help me out with my amnesia. What "n-type" comments, made where, have I forgotten?

A co-worker likes the NYT so brings it to work. I paruse it during my lunch time. Its amazing how nasty it is and how left wing almost every article is. They throw in insults to conservatives in manay articles that have nothing to do with politics.

Any newspaper that would employ Pete Thamel is a rag anyway.(Thamel keeps investigating UK basketball and coming up "short". The ladies are all nodding) It's led to a number of appellations being used for him...my personal favorite being "Thamel-toe"

Has there developed a group amnesia on this blog re "nigger"-type comments?

What do you expect a bunch of "typical white people" to act like, les? :)

Not all Obama opponents--but definitely a portion.

Meh. A portion of Obama supporters are child molesters. A portion of Romney supporters are cannibals. In a country of 310 million, "a portion" of any voting bloc will be any group of nasties you can imagine.

Obama got a higher percentage of the white vote than Bill Clinton did despite not being one-tenth the man Clinton was. If race was a factor at all it obvious didn't weight *against* him.

bagoh wrote: "Oh, well I guess we tried, but it seems voting for Obama has had no redeeming value after all for white people."

Well... I didn't vote for him but I have experienced some redeeming value from his election. I don't know how much and I don't know how much it's worth, but it's there and it's noticeable to me.

I live in a city that's probably more than 50% black. It's been that or near that for the 22 years I've lived here.

I'm also an introvert, so I don't have a lot of friends. I connect on some wavelength other than the norm but apparently so do some black people since I connected with a few.

But even an introvert can't help but interact with people on a daily basis and if 50% of the people in my area are black, I can't help but interact with them, can I?

The clerk at the DMV, the cashier at the supermarket, the nurses at the hospitals, the receptionists everywhere...

(This is where I scoff at everyone who lives in a place where blacks, "native americans", asians, hispanics, "you name it" really are minorities... )

And you know what? I've noticed a difference since Obama was elected.

I have been on the receiving end of more genuine smiles from more black people than ever before. There's a general cheerfulness that wasn't there before.

At the same time, I have witnessed an entrenching, a hardening, of what I have termed the "militant" black segment -- always a tiny minority of the black people I have known, worked with, dealt with.

What I don't know is if the increase in happiness, of pride, of self-esteem, or of whatever you might call it, of a rather small segment of the national population is worth the economic and other harm that Obama has helped (he didn't invent it) inflict on the U.S. is worth it.

Perhaps it is. Combine this increase of happiness I've noticed with the decrease of impact the accusation of racism has... maybe.

I'm willing to let the tiny minority of hardened racists -- black and white -- fight it out among themselves on the sidelines.

The rest of us could get together and decide on a course that benefits us regardless of color.

The New York Times is suggesting that race, and not principles, should be the determinant factor in selecting our leaders. I wonder if The New York Times knows what principles constitute American conservatism. From their reporting, I would infer that they do not. That's quite a remarkable deficit for a national press outlet.

Did you guys know about this? I've read a lot of Obama's speeches, and I don't think he's ever mentioned his racial background.

Did the NYT confirm with somebody at the White House that he's part black?

I guess his name should have been a clue. Or his complexion. He must have assumed anybody who wanted to know would pick up on that, because to the best of my knowledge, he has never, ever, ever mentioned his race even in passing. Not once. "Only rarely surfaced" doesn't begin to describe it.

It's the second sweetheart. But really, that's not a bad place to be. You don't want to be old and cynical like moi. I want to expect more out of people, I used to, but lately(20 years or so) if I expect the least, I am rarely disappointed. Even in myself.

Comments about Obama's performance on the job, or his Marxism are given as examples of racism. That's the kind of thinking that will always make cries of racism suspect. If you don't really know what racism is calling someone racist has little meaning.

They give us some quotes that are not fairly characterized as someone saying she wouldn't vote for Obama because of his race, but statements of belief that other people voted out of enthusiasm for having a black President...

And of course the New York Times doesn't think voting for some BECAUSE they are black is racist.

I'm not opposed to Obama because he's black, I'm opposed to Obama because he's uppity.

I'm not opposed to Obama because he is black, but rather because he is both incompetent and his Presidency so far has been disastrous economically and in terms of foreign relations, military power, and civil liberties. Besides, his Administration is probably the most corrupt of our lifetimes. About the only racist thing there is that he hired and continues to support Eric Holder as AG, despite his being both the most racist and most corrupt AG of our lifetimes.

You have black athletes still getting called the n-word over in Europe by fans and having bananas thrown at them from the stands, and yet somehow Americans are racist because the just disagree with the President and his political party?

So let me see if I have this right. According to the Times I'd be wildly in favor of Obama's out of control deficit spending, not to mention downright thrilled to be paying more for worse healthcare insurance as Obamacare kicks in, if only he was white?

Donna B,I live in a city with only 29% non-hispanic whites. I didn't realize L.A. was that low on vanilla until just now when I looked it up. It does not seem much different than other places as far as how people get along, which is encouraging.

I do agree with you, that there has been a palpable difference since Obama got elected with many Blacks losing much of the chip on that shoulder.

They now assume not all whites are racist - just the conservative ones who disagree with his policies. That's really a very small step in what really counts. A large number were victimhood Democrats before, and they still are.

I would prefer they think I'm a racist, but have them become conservatives. If they were conservatives, I could convince them we have equal opportunity, but as long as they remain liberals, they are required to believe the opposite.

Even Juan Williams is disappointingly still calling the Tea Party racist with no evidence of it. Just like the NYT, it's not because he's Black it's because he's a progressive.

No. What's remarkable is that less than 100% of the adult population of the world doesn't love and support Obama, the Great One. Everybody who opposes him is racist. They hate the blackness in him and/or the whiteness in him, depending on their own heritage.

That's a strange reading of the article. It's just standard Dem narrative stuff -- conservatives in general and Repubs more specifically are deemed to hold unenlightened views on race (and everything else) regardless of where they're from. Romney is from Boston -- Red Sox nation is despised but not for being fly over country -- and he's the real target of all of this (and much more that will be featured in the NYT over the next 6 months).

So why look to attitudes about fly over country here? Truth be told, in NYC you usually encounter sneering attitudes about fly over country from the more recent arrivals -- those who couldn't wait to leave wherever they came from. The only place universally held in contempt is NJ. But that's for reasons having nothing to do with politics.

"I can't search the comments, and I certainly haven't made a list of the rotten black-racist remarks I have see here. But they do exist in an attitude of tolerance. "is it okay to use old-fashioned racial humor?""

Yes, because that's exactly like throwing the n-word around.

Your problem, leslyn, is that the regulars here really are regulars. Everybody knows you're full of shit.

Is saying Obama is incompetent racist?How about saying he's a Marxist? What If I said Obama has big ears? Obama wears mom jeans. Is that racist? Obama actually stinks. Is that racist? His wife verifies it. So does one of his ex composite girlfriends. Is any of that racist? He eats dog? See these things are either opinions about his ability to do the job, or verifiable statements made by real people including himself. Not racist.

I remember reading that article and was struck that the town that most of the examples were drawn from was Steubenville, Ohio home to a very conservative Catholic Collage and related Community. (Franciscan University ). I guess the head line Conservative Catholics still don’t like Obama wasn’t exciting enough.

That line gave me a sense of deja vu. It reminded me of James Lileks' brilliant Notes From the Olive Garden, in which he skewered Matthew Engel's column in the Guardian: "It subscribes to the laziest sort of parachute journalism: find a Symbol of America, talk to a guy eating supper, and discern the Pulse of the Culture."

To be fair, go back and read the New York Times' coverage of the 1993 New York City mayoral election, particularly the stories centering around the NYPD rally for Rudy Giuliani at City Hall Park.

Calling opponents of Obama racist isn't surprising. They called opponents of then-NYC mayor David Dinkins the same thing 19 years ago. And pointing at flyover country today is the same as the Times pointing to certain segments of the city's workforce or parts of the out boroughs that were branded as intolerent when they opted against re-electing the city's first African-American mayor for the temerity of having not done a good job (and the difference in the city was so start between 1993 and '97 the Times had to swallow their ego and endorse Giuliani for re-election. They won't do that again in 2016 if Romney's re-elected, even if the country has the same sort of turnaround in the next four years that NYC experienced).

I'm opposed to obama for the same reason I was opposed to Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Clinton, Kerry, and Gore- because their political beliefs are the direct opposite of mine. What part of that can't the NYTimes understand?

Isn't this the same rag that dreamed up the "white hispanic" sub-category for "people we wish to be white for political purposes"? Is race ALL they ever think about at that place? Maybe they need some sort of therapy.... or bankruptcy....

Leslyn, if you would like, there is a way to search the comments. Plug the following into the Google search box:

nigger +site:althouse.blogspot.com

Knock yourself out.

I read a dozen pages of excerpts that used the word "nigger", and only one of them from back in 2010 seemed to be using it in a deliberately offensive or even casually racist manner. All the rest were from quotations or otherwise the topic of legitimate discussion on things like Huckleberry Finn, the use of the word in hiphop/rap culture, or Rick Perry's choice of hunting grounds.

This may be flyover country but it is also Battleground Central 2012. So how should us'n speak to the JournoHorde that will sweep in? Should we try to present Walker's accomplishments - by changing collective bargaining he overcame the deficit and others could do the same? Or should we compete to get the most ridiculous quote circulating on the MSM? e.g., "Brett Farver is my hero and I pretty much am going to follow his lead on this election thing." I've seen reporters at Teaparty rallies and they had the story ready, only looking for flyover-country-quotes. Supply Acme Exploding Cigar quotes, instead

Why point out the "bank employee"? Because banks are racist against black people. And that's why they can't get loans. Has nothing to do with credit-ratings. Which are also racist.

And, we saw where that got us, with the collapse of the market for houses bought by people who couldn't afford them because it would (temporarily) increase home ownership in minority communities. Which unfortunately also destroyed much of the entire housing market, resulting in many more losing their homes, etc.

But, other than that, it was a noble idea and anyone opposing sub-prime lending was a racist.

Obama will be re-elected by a very substantial margin. He won't get the votes of the millions of white racists who still occupy America and haven't learned much of anything after all these years. However, the vast majority of Americans who value their futures will vote for Obama over the Republicans -- the Party of Depressions, incompetent war lords, more tax breaks for billionaires, and letting everybody else drop dead.